Iran: US Air Defense Plans Are a Regional Threat

US, Israel set air defense pact with Arabs

President Biden’s visit to the Middle East is coming in the next week and will center on plans for a region-wide air defense system targeting Iran. The plan will be dominated by the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

Iran isn’t happy with this, warning that the addition of foreign forces into the region but will add to tensions and create a regional rift. The plan is being spun to target Iranian drones.

The whole joint Israel-Arab program backed by the US is part of the broader anti-Iran NATO the US is trying to get thrown together, and Biden is using this visit to try to boost the plan.

This alliance would indeed raise tension with Iran, which is exactly the point of the plan. The US is under pressure from these nations to “do more” against Iran, and envisions that being easier if they got them into an alliance and just had to subsidize the alliance directly instead of worrying about half a dozen nations at once.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.